


Copper and Tellurium

by kagseyamas



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Brief Underage Drinking, M/M, Pining, Training Camp, actual nerd power couple, demiromantic tsukishima, rip tsukki ya gay ass, terrible science jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-09 03:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6887818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kagseyamas/pseuds/kagseyamas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It didn't help, of course, that occasionally Kuroo would leave the occasional dumb science joke scrawled on refill pad paper in the side-pocket of his gym bag. He never would have thought it would make his heart leap out of his chest to read</p><p>'I asked the guy sitting next to me if he had any Sodium Hypobromite…<br/>He said NaBrO.'</p><p>or</p><p>the one with the first crush and the crappy chemistry puns</p>
            </blockquote>





	Copper and Tellurium

**Author's Note:**

> one could argue that this is silly, unoriginal, and out of character. that someone is me. but still, i realised that even though krtsk is one of my favs of all time, ive never posted a fic of them. so here is something lying in my drafts for months.

"No way. No way in hell, no _fucking_ —"

"Tsukki? Are you alright in there?"

Kei could almost laugh at the question. He was the furthest from alright. He'd just had the worst realisation of his life and this bathroom smelt like decay and the cold water he had splashed on his face wasn't working _why wasn't it working_ —

"I'm fine." he managed, evenly and cooly.

Yamaguchi cleared his throat outside the door awkwardly. "Um..it's just that, everyone saw you get up and leave, and I can hear you talking to yourself in there and that's probably not a good sign, right?"

"I said I'm fine, Yamaguchi." he snapped, glancing at himself in the mirror again.

His face was all pink and blotchy—the face of embarrassment and humiliation—the face if someone with a....a particular _interest_ in a very specific person. A romantic interest. A very very deep-rooted romantic interest that ached his chest and made him flush when he even thought about said person.

So no, he was not alright.

Tsukishima Kei did not do crushes. In fact, up until now, he had thought they were something he was just incapable of having—and he would have been perfectly okay with that. Not having romantic attraction at all was better than this.

"Okay..." Yamaguchi said hesitantly. "Just...don't stay up too late okay?"

Kei didn't answer. Kei was too busy having a crisis.

It was all that stupid captain's fault. Him, with his stupid hair and cocky grin and sincere words and good intentions. Kei admired his volleyball skills, sure. He'd managed to provoke Kei into admitting things he'd never said out loud before, and when he'd reached a hand out to ruffle Kei's hair he'd acted repulsed, pushed his hand away on reflex. It was only when he lay down to sleep, surrounded by the rest of his teammates, did he begin to think about Kuroo Tetsurou again.

His cheeky grin, his broad stature, the way his aura changed just before a game, his arm muscles, his ab muscles, his silly yet strangely intimidating authority, how his hand felt nestled in his hair, how his features lit up when he cracked a bad joke, how he liked to seem more knowledgable and mature than he actually was—when Kei had heard him casually telling the Fukurodani captain about how he "wouldn't even mind swinging both ways" and Kei's entire stomach burst into a frenzy of butterflies at the information, despite the fact that he couldn't understand why it was happening or how to make it stop.

He'd felt a small smile slip onto his face when he imagined doing gross stuff like kissing and holding hands with him.

And it was only then, as he lay on his futon, surrounded by snoring idiots on a training camp, did he realise that he had a huge, whopping, embarrassing, hideous crush on Kuroo Tetsurou.

And it was the worst news imaginable.

It found him in a nasty gym bathroom, splashing his face with cold water and trying to figure out what to do. He didn't have a hope in hell with Kuroo, and Kei wasn't sure he even wanted to. Even if thinking about making out with him was a truly awakening experience. Like. Immensely.

The only thing he could do, he decided, was act natural and hoped that it passed quickly enough.

 

 

Kei, as he found out the next day, could not act natural for the life of him. He didn't know how people who had crushes all the time even functioned. Kei couldn't even look at the captain without feeling guilty—even just knowing that he'd thought about him that way was heavy. He overthought all of his words before saying them, analysing what reactions they'd provoke, when in the past he had had next to no filter and couldn't have cared less about it.

 

There was one incident, when they were cleaning up after the last match of the day. It had been Karasuno vs Fukurodani, however Nekoma had been loitering around the gym like the band of delinquents they were, taking notes on the players and their mannerisms. Karasuno lost, of course, but after they got back from their punishment-run, Kuroo stopped Hinata and Kageyama as they began to take the net down.

"Hey, we're going to practise some receives here for a while longer. You guys are welcome to stay and help, if you want. We could use all the insights we can get."

The team all glanced at Sawamura for his answer.

"Actually, I think some of us need to go practise our individual—"

"Sure."

Yes. That was Kei's voice, louder than he had ever allowed himself to speak before his fight with Yamaguchi, and words clearly not thought through. Heads turned to look at him, and he awkwardly laced his hands in front of him, carefully avoiding Kuroo's gaze.

"You all wanted me to work harder, right?" Kei said pointedly at Sawamura and Suga, who glanced at each other, having a silent conversation with their eyes.

"I suppose." Suga said after a moment. "It wouldn't hurt."

 

 

They ended up staying for practise, but Kei could hardly concentrate, damn it. He kept checking to see if Kuroo was looking at him, and he usually never was, which only disappointed him every time, despite himself. In the past he used to speak his mind freely, not caring who's feelings he wounded, whereas now it was as though he was trying to dial it back so as not to scare Kuroo off, while also trying to seem as though nothing was off about him. And he couldn't for the life of him remember how he used to act beforehand.

He hated this. He could have lived in ignorant, asshole bliss for the rest of his life, but this whole "crush" thing was just messing up his whole system.

 

 

"Sugawara-senpai, could I speak with you for a moment?"

Sugawara glanced up at him before smiling sweetly and standing up. "Sure, what do you need?"

Kei pursed his lips. "Advice."

Sugawara's mouth formed a small 'o'. "Well I don't know much about blocking, but—"

"It's not about volleyball." Kei interrupted before he could finish, lacing his hands together in front of himself and anxiously fidgeting from foot to foot. "It's about...um...you know—you're good at like...people stuff..." he trailed off pathetically, and a knowing look crossed over Sugawara's face.

"I see. Come, sit down." he sat on the bench again and patted the space beside him. Kei eyed it for a moment before taking his seat.

"Now, what's the problem?"

Kei really did not want to force the words out, but they just weren't coming, so he was left with no choice.

"There's a person." he blurted, then took a deep breath as Sugawara's expression changed to one of surprise. "That I have an interest in. And I can't make it go away. And I need help with...that."

Sugawara's eyes were wild with excitement, and Kei began to hate himself for making bad decisions.

"Who is it? Is it one of the managers?" He then gasped. "It's not Yachi is it?"

"It's not Yachi." Kei deadpanned, standing up again. "Forget it."

"Tsukishima wait, I'm sorry." Sugawara  caught his arm, although he didn't look that sorry. "I won't ask any more questions. Just tell me your situation."

Kei sighed, because as much as he needed to leave right now immediately, he kind of really needed the advice, even if it did come with teasing. He sat again, feeling utterly humiliated at having to talk about his feelings.

"Well...h—she's older than me by a few years, and we—I haven't exactly been the nicest person to her. And a lot of the time I can't stand her either. But I realised recently that I might not actually...hate her as much as I thought. And it's awful so I need it to stop immediately."

Sugawara squinted at him, before the amused smile slipped back onto his face. "Coming from you, it sounds like you have it bad, Tsukishima. I'm not sure there is a way to make it stop."

Kei's eyes widened in horror. "Seriously?"

"Why don't you try asking her out?"

Kei had to physically clamp his mouth shut from saying something incredibly rude. "I can't."

Sugawara quirked a brow. "Why not?"

_Because she is a he, because I'm only a first year, because of distance issues, because I've been an asshole to him, because I don't even know if he likes boys, or if he was just saying that to sound open-minded, because I don't want him to say no._

"I told you, she probably hates me."

"You know, despite what you may think, you're not that scary."

"What?"

Sugawara laughed at his expression. "Maybe to the other first years, but to the rest of us you're kinda like one of those fluffy cats that scratches all the house guests but everyone still thinks is cute."

Kei wrinkled his nose. "That's maybe the worst thing you've ever said to me in my life."

Sugawara laughed again. "Seriously, you should take a chance and ask her out. Or at least say something to let her know that you have an interest in talking to her."

"And you're sure there's no way to make the feelings go away instead?"

Sugawara shook his head gravely. "Tsukishima, is this your first crush?"

His face immediately flushed with heat, despite how he willed it away.

"I'll take the silence as a yes." the setter chuckled. "Listen, it's your first time liking someone. Make the most of it. Go be a lovesick teenager before adulthood responsibilities kick in, and you have to start worrying about things like having to keep a long-distance relationship because you're both going to different colleges on opposite sides of Japan next year."

Tsukishima stared at him oddly, and Sugawara looked vaguely panicked for a moment before brushing it off.

"Sorry. I'm projecting. Seriously though, let me know how it goes. And don't worry, I'll keep your secret."

"...Thanks Sugawara."

 

 

The thing was, Kei couldn't decide if it was worse when Kuroo didn't pay attention to him, or when he did. Kuroo was a touchy person. He always had been. He was never short of a hand on the shoulder while talking to a friend, or a rough clap on the back after a game. Kei now relished in every moment where they came into contact. Kuroo seemed to notice his absence of shaking him off every time too, a fatal mistake of his.

"Hey Tsukki you okay? You're acting pretty... _nice_ lately."

Kei swallowed the gulp of water he had taken and set his bottle down. _How the hell had he acted around Kuroo before?_

"I'm always this kind." he replied simply, regurgitating a line Kuroo had previously used in the past. He felt like regurgitating his heart, lungs, and the rest of his internal organs when the captain actually chuckled at his retort.

"You know Tsukishima, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that that was an attempt at humour."

Kei leaned against the cool gym wall. From somewhere in his peripheral vision he could hear Hinata nattering loudly, and the occasional noise of Kageyama still practising his serves during their break.

"I don't know why you're surprised." he deadpanned. "You're getting a glimpse into how I talk to actual intellectuals."

Kuroo snorted, then grinned with that crooked grin that was so asymmetrical it should have looked odd, yet he pulled it off somehow.

"I'm wounded, Tsukki. Is my witty banter not intellectual enough for you?"

"Not nearly." Kei didn't notice the smirk subtly creeping onto his face. Kuroo did.

"Fine. Did you know that Oxygen went on a date with Potassium?"

Kei raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Kuroo rolled his eyes. "This is the part where you say ' _no, how did it go?_ '"

"No way."

" _Say it_." the captain whined.

"Fine." Kei found himself sighing in resignation, despite the utter joy churning in his stomach. "How did it go?"

Kuroo paused for dramatic effect, looking as though he could barely contain his delight.

"It went OK."

Kei stared at him in utter disbelief, before he couldn't contain it any longer. As soon as the laugh left his mouth his clamped in shut again, bringing a hand over to cover his lips. Even Kuroo seemed surprised, mouth ajar and eyebrows shot way up.

"That...was a first. I was starting to think you were void of laughter."

Kei's face felt like a hot stove. "Oh shut up. That joke was awful and you know it."

Kuroo grinned. "I'm going to need to put 'terrible chemistry jokes' down on the list of _Things That Don't Piss Tsukki Off_. Right under dinosaur facts, bitching about other people, and oddly enough, the country of Portugal."

"It's like a low-key Spain." Kei retorted, a hint of a smile returning to his lips.

" _TSUKISHIMA'S SMILING!_ "

Kei flinched at the sound of Hinata's voice, pointing his humiliating weakness of having the urge to grin like an idiot every time Kuroo addressed him. He loathed that little pest with every fibre of his being once everyone turned to look at him.

Kuroo raised his eyebrows. "Have your teammates seriously never need you smile? Man, never underestimate the power of chemistry jokes."

"Yeah, I gotta go." Kei replied simply, not wanting to expose himself to much more of the curious stares and glances from the occupants of the gym.

He didn't glance back as he made his way to the rest of his team.

 

 

Kei made it his business to steer clear from Kuroo after that event. It became clear to him that he could not trust himself to have a civil conversation without acting completely out of character. Perhaps it was realistically only as subtle as a hint of a smile here and there, or one glance too many towards the captain's direction, but Kei wasn't dense. He was aware that after going to him for advice, Sugawara was paying close attention, always on the lookout for whoever Kei was supposedly crushing on.

It didn't help, of course, that occasionally Kuroo would leave the occasional dumb science joke scrawled on refill pad paper in the side-pocket of his gym bag. He never would have thought it would make his heart leap out of his chest to read

_I asked the guy sitting next to me if he had any Sodium Hypobromite…  
He said NaBrO._

 

 

He didn't tell anyone, but he silently collected them, stuffing them away into his bag to keep for later. However, the more he continued to avoid Kuroo, keeping his distance both in the gym and out of it, the notes grew less frequent.

"Any luck with that mystery girl yet Tsukishima-kun?" Sugawara plonked down beside his futon and asked him one evening, on the last night of camp.

Kei wondered if he knew how obvious it was that he and some other 3rd years had snuck some alcohol into their cups at supper. Kei could practically smell the sake on him, which amused him slightly. It was like seeing your own mother get totally smashed at a family barbecue.

"Do we have to talk about this?" he sighed, humouring the setter.

"Yes. Absolutely." Sugawara poked him in the chest. Then he gasped. "I bet you in a couple would be the sweetest thing. I still kind of hope it's Yachi."

"It's not Yachi."

"Anyway," Sugawara rolled his eyes, "You should totally keep me updated on your progress, 'n stuff. I wanna be your wingman."

Kei sighed. "I don't need a wingman."

"Clearly you do, because you can't even ask out your own crush." Kei winced at how loud he was being. Sugawara's eyes flicked around the room, suddenly distracted. "Speaking of, where's Daichi?"

He stood up and wandered off without another thought. Kei didn't bother with what Sugawara had said lastly. He mainly focused on his previous statement. It wasn't like he hoped or expected Kuroo to go out with him, but perhaps if he got it out there and the captain finally crushed his heart, he could begin the healing process and get over it. If by some off chance his feelings were requieted then great, but if not then he would get rid of this inconvenient crush once and for all, so either way it was a (not really) win-win situation.

 

 

The next morning, as Karasuno were boarding their bus, Kei spotted the Nekoma team a couple of busses over. Everyone had said their goodbyes at breakfast, but he still had yet to speak to Kuroo. He lagged behind, waiting until everyone was boarded before rushing a quick "be right back" to Coach Ukai and speeding off despite his protests. When he approached the Nekoma Captain, he was counting heads as each team member stepped onto the bus, beginning to follow them himself.

"Kuroo!"

Kuroo swivelled around, one foot still on the step as he gave Kei his full attention.

"Oh so you avoid me all week and it's only when I'm leaving that you want to talk to me?" he remarked smugly, and Kei's mouth twisted to avoid any reflexive nasty comments from slipping out.

"Yes." he said curtly and Kuroo frowned, stepping fully off the bus and closing the door behind him.

"Well now I know something's up. You haven't verbally abused me yet."

Ouch. "Yeah, I'm sorry. For that."

Kuroo's eyes widened. "Tsukki did you just...apologise to me?" then he leaned in so close that Kei could smell his nauseatingly cheap yet intoxicating cologne. "Blink twice if you're being forced to do this against your will."

Kei scowled, hoping that it would distract from his furious blush. From the Nekoma bus window, someone yelled ' _hurry up already, or we'll leave without you Cap!_ ' It was probably the mohawk guy. It put pressure on Kei to hurry and he didn't like that at all. It only led to him babbling

"Do you...have 11 protons? Because you're sodium fine."

in the most awkwardly horrible way possible. He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, and he thought he felt the universe cringe around him.

Kuroo's brows furrowed, as though he was trying to make sense of the question.

"Tsukki...did you just science pick-up-line me?"

Kei simply stared at him with wide eyes, face undoubtedly pink in embarrassment, silently hoping that he wouldn't have to say more for Kuroo to get the message. Eventually he copped it, face growing into the largest shit-eating grin he had ever witnessed in his life.

"Ohh I see. You have a crush on me."

Kei scowled, face the temperature of molten lava. "I do not."

Kuroo didn't acknowledge him. "You find me charming and hilarious and you like my jokes and now you're totally crushing on me."

"...Well so what if I do?" Kei scoffed, and it was pathetic because he really wasn't in the position to be sounding like a smart ass right now.

Kuroo seemed to freeze, before staring at Kei with wide, shocked eyes. "Wait shit, do you actually? I didn't think you were _serious_!"

It would never be possible for Kei to feel this humiliated in his life ever again.

"Forget it." Kei was tired, embarrassed, and a tad heartbroken that Kuroo seemed to find it so hilarious. He turned to walk towards his own bus.

"Tsukki wait!" Kuroo ran after, him sliding in front of him and blocking his path. Unable to side-step him, Kei simply stared at the ground, nervously playing with his fingers.

"Forget I said anything."

"Did Bokuto put you up to this?"

Kei scowled at him, but on looking up he was surprised to see how earnest Kuroo's expression seemed. "Why would he put me up to it?"

The captain smiled sheepishly. "Well I told him that I thought you were cute, and he was trying to get me to ask you out."

Kei stared at him skeptically, repressing his butterflies deep down. "Well why didn't you?"

Kuroo shrugged. "Well when I made an attempt at flirting one time you didn't speak to me for the rest of the week. I thought you weren't interested."

Kei wanted to smack himself. "Well...I don't mind you, I guess."

Kuroo grinned. "It that Tsukishima code for ' _you're so handsome, Kuroo-san, please take me out on a date._ '?"

"You're such an idiot." Kei smirked, before adding "And yes it is."

For some reason, Kuroo seemed surprised at this. "Oh! Okay! I'll...text you or something later then!"

Kei decided to let himself smile. "Okay."

Kuroo seemed a little dumbstruck when he turned his back to enter his own team's bus after inputting his number into the captain's phone.

"Wow Tsukishima." Hinata said as soon as he stepped onto the bus. "I wanna meet whoever got you to blush that hard. Maybe shake their hand."

Kei couldn't make a snarky comeback. If he did, that would have risked losing control over how hard he was trying to repress a giddy smile.

"I didn't know you were friends with the Nekoma captain!" Nishinoya exclaimed at an unnecessary volume level.

"What?" Kei froze. "Who said we were?"

"We just saw you exchange numbers with him outside the bus." Tanaka explained.

Two rows down, Suga's head snapped around. He glanced out of the window for a second and then his eyes met Kei's. There was a look of realisation in his wide eyes and Kei bent his head in embarrassment.

"That's none of your business." he muttered to the second year duo.

 

On the journey home, he sat with his phone in his lap. He was almost ashamed at how fast he unlocked it when it buzzed with a text from an unregistered number.

 

_Are you made of Copper and Tellurium? Because you're CuTe._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr—seeweedbrain  
> twitter—prettysetter


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